The present invention relates to the general technical field of apparatus employed to place a textile article, such as a garment, in proper form by subjecting it to the action of a thermal treatment and a mechanical pressing treatment.
The invention concerns an electric clothes pressing iron including a pressing sole plate and heating means associated with automatic power interruption means which are activated when the iron is halted.
In all pressing irons of the prior art, the principal component forming the carrier element of the iron is constituted by the pressing sole plate. The pressing sole plate is in thermal communication with heating means, for example a sheathed resistance, provided to heat the sole plate to a high temperature in order to accelerate the thermal exchange between the sole plate and the fabric. Known irons also include, in a conventional manner, a temperature limiter such as a thermostat, which is set to a desired temperature by the user based on the nature of the article to be pressed. During pressing cycles, the user finds it necessary to let go of the iron in order to be able to perform various operations that require the use of two hands, such as for example displacement, folding and turning of the article being pressed. During the course of these manipulation operations, the iron is posed horizontally and at a distance on an appropriate support or is posed on its end, or heel, so that the sole plate is oriented in a substantially vertical direction. In one of these positions or the other, the pressing sole plate is no longer in contact with the pressing support, or ironing board and consequently can not burn it.
In the majority of known pressing irons, the sole plate is maintained at its operating temperature even during periods when the pressing operation is interrupted in order to enable the user to perform the various manipulations enumerated above, so that the iron can be immediately placed back into operation. For safety reasons it has already been proposed on certain irons known in the prior art to associate the elements for heating the sole plate with automatic heating current interruption means which function when the iron is stationary. The supply of electric current to the heating element is generally interrupted at the end of a certain time when the iron has been stationary with the aid of movement sensors, such as electromechanical movement detectors.
Moreover, there exists certain models of dry pressing irons which include a thin sole plate. The heating time for the sole plate is reduced in order to achieve economies of energy. Such dry pressing irons include a rigid mass which increases the weight of the iron on which the thin sole plate can be fixed. Such a mass gives the sole plate excellent rigidity characteristics. It is thus possible to produce sole plates having a considerably reduced thickness.
The heavy rigid mass attached to the iron substantially reduces its manageability and causes the pressing operation to be very fatiguing. Moreover, this principal is limited only to dry irons and would be inapplicable to steam irons.
The necessity of putting the iron down from time to time, either in a vertical orientation or a horizontal orientation, in an area provided for this purpose constitutes a constraint on utilization which is viewed in a particularly negative manner by the user to the extent that it is considered to significantly prolong the pressing operation, which is already tedious. Moreover, the correct positioning of the iron in its rest position requires, in spite of everything, careful attention on the part of the user, an attention which decreases over time with fatigue and can increase the risk of burns or of dropping the iron. Finally, it is recognized that the repeated operations of placing the iron on and picking it up from a horizontal support or its heel constitute movements which strain the wrist of the user and lead to physical fatigue.